A Web Map Service (WMS) is a standard protocol for serving (over the Internet) georeferenced map images which a map server generates using data from a GIS database. The Open Geospatial Consortium developed the specification and first published it in 1999.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) became involved in developing standards for web mapping after a paper was published in 1997 by Allan Doyle, outlining a "WWW Mapping Framework". The OGC established a task force to come up with a strategy, and organized the "Web Mapping Testbed" initiative, inviting pilot web mapping projects that built upon ideas by Doyle and the OGC task force. Results of the pilot projects were demonstrated in September 1999, and a second phase of pilot projects ended in April 2000.
The Open Geospatial Consortium released WMS version 1.0.0 in April 2000, followed by version 1.1.0 in June 2001, and version 1.1.1 in January 2002. The OGC released WMS version 1.3.0 in January 2004.
WMS specifies a number of different request types, two of which are required by any WMS server:
GetCapabilities - returns parameters about the WMS (such as map image format and WMS version compatibility) and the available layers (map bounding box, coordinate reference systems, URI of the data and whether the layer is mostly opaque or not)
GetMap - returns a map image. Parameters include: width and height of the map, coordinate reference system, rendering style, image format
Request types that WMS providers may optionally support include:
GetFeatureInfo - if a layer is marked as 'queryable' then you can request data about a coordinate of the map image.
DescribeLayer - returns the feature types of the specified layer or layers, which can be further described using WFS or WCS requests. This request is dependent on the SLD Profile of WMS.
GetLegendGraphic - return an image of the map's legend image, giving a visual guide to map elements.
A WMS server usually serves the map in a bitmap format, e.g. PNG, GIF or JPEG. In addition, vector graphics can be included: such as points, lines, curves and text, expressed in SVG or WebCGM format.
Open source software that provide web map services capability include:
GeoServer
deegree
MapServer
MapGuide Open Source
World Wind Server
QGIS Server
GeoWebCache
Proprietary server software that allow providing web map services include:
PIXIA Corp'sHiPER LOOK
Sinergise Giselle
ObjectFX Web Mapping Tools
ArcGIS Server
ArcIMS
VT MAK's VR-TheWorld
Envinsa from Pitney Bowes Business Insights
GeoWebPublisher from Bentley Systems
GeognoSIS from Cadcorp
GeoMedia
Oracle MapViewer
LizardTech's Express Server
SIAS (Smallworld Internet Application Server) from GE Energy
Autodesk's Infrastructure Map Server
ERDAS, Inc's APOLLO Suite of products
Manifold System
MapLink Pro WMS Server from Envitia
MiraMon Server
FiberWatch for Remote Fiber Monitoring from NTest Inc
CubeWerx Suite
Petrosys
JMap from K2 Geospatial
StatMap's Stellar Suite products (inc. Earthlight, Aurora and Comet)
Luciad's LuciadLightspeed and LuciadFusion products
Open source standalone (client side) software that allow viewing web map services include:
Geozilla
QGIS Browser
osgEarth
Marble
Proprietary standalone (client side) software that allow viewing web map services include:
Google Earth
CompeGPS Land
Geocortex Essentials
PYXIS WorldView Studio
Esri ArcGIS & ArcGIS Explorer
Geoweb3d Desktop and Geoweb3d SDK
TIBCO Spotfire
Global Mapper
Kongsberg Gallium Ltd. InterVIEW / InterMAPhics
Carbon Project Gaia
Petrosys
Luciad's LuciadLightspeed, LuciadRIA and LuciadMobile products
WMS Viewer for Android and Online
WMS is a widely supported format for maps and GIS data accessed via the Internet and loaded into client side GIS software. Major commercial GIS and mapping software that support WMS include:
AnyChart
Autodesk's Map 3D and Civil 3D products
Bentley Systems's GIS products
Cadcorp SIS product suite
D3.js
ESRI's ArcGIS products
GeoMedia
Global Mapper
Kinetica
Manifold System
MapInfo Professional
Maptitude Mapping Software
MATLAB and Mapping Toolbox
Netwin
PYXIS WorldView
StatMap's Stellar Suite products
Tableau
TIBCO Spotfire
Visual Crossing
Open source software that supports WMS include:
QGIS
uDig
OpenJUMP
MapGuide Open Source
NASA World Wind
GRASS GIS
JOSM
gvSIG
OpenLayers
GE Energy's SIAS, an Ajax library, supports WMS for integrating WMS maps into web pages, as does Mapbender
